The good and the bad

First the good stuff:

Rob FINALLY got to feel baby boy kick!!! I am so happy as out timing had just been off and he was never around me when the kicks happened. He felt them twice and was so excited. I LOVED that.

We bought a crib and a glider! It will take 6 weeks to be delivered because they did not have the color I wanted in stock. So I get to set up the nursery in 6 weeks.

The baby shower date is set for January 29th and my registry is almost completed. I just have to do more breastfeeding/bottle research and add those things.

Now I am going to complain a bit.

I am having a hard time getting comfortable. I am getting bigger everyday and I can't roll over in bed normally anymore. My nose is ALWAYS stuffed up, especially at night and I need to roll over to get air in a nostril and I have to sit up to do it. So I wake up all night long every time I would normally roll over in my sleep. Once I wake up, I have to pee. This has been going on about a week now and I know it will only get worse.

We eat dinner at the coffee table while watching TV. I know it's a bad habit but now I can't do it anymore. The coffee table is too low and I can't bend the right way to eat over it anymore. So as of tonight we will begin eating at the real table like grown ups.

I cannot tie my sneakers. I do this half-ass job by sitting down and contorting my legs to the side but they always come undone and Rob had to bend down in public to tie them TWICE this weekend. I think I am going to wear boots for the rest of this pregnancy.

OK. I don't complain much but I am awake after another crappy nights sleep so I just needed to get that out. It's out. Time to change my attitude and get to work.

Going Well

Everything has been fine since my recent scare. No blood at all. Nothing. TG! I feel him moving and kicking all the time and I love every single second of it.

I had a doctor appt yesterday and it went well. I am in the process of meeting all the doctors in the practice before I go to the hospital. I have met the midwife and now 3 of the doctors. The one I met yesterday I like the least. Only because she rushed me. No one else has done that yet. Granted I may have used up more of my time then usual telling her the story of Friday night as it had not yet made it into my chart. Still, I hate feeling like a doctor rushes you.

Anyway, like I said, no more problems and I heard his heartbeat again. Nice and strong. I have gained a total of 10 pounds. I really thought I was up 13 so I guess my scale is a bit different then theirs. ( I look as if I have gained 30 ). They gave me the glucose drink for my next appt. I really hope I pass that test! It is 4 days before Christmas and I am hoping not to be on a special diet for the holidays. It won't be the end of the world, I'd just rather not.

So the weekend went well with no more problems. I was talking to a friend of mine with a 4 month old and I told her about what happened Friday. She said the same exact thing happened to her. She was 23 weeks and woke up to pee at 3:30 am. Thats when she saw blood. It ended up being just a one time thing for her so this stuff does does happen. I feel a bit better knowing that.

Had a scare

Let me start off by saying the baby is fine and I am fine but I had one crazy scare yesterday.

I was at work and it was 3:45. I starting wrapping things up as I leave at 4:00. I went to use the bathroom. I urinated. Nothing unusual yet. I wiped.

There was Blood!

It was bright red and there was alot of it. It took me 3 tries to make it all go away. I was terrified. I know first trimester spotting or bleeding is common but I am was 23 weeks 5 days. Not a good thing. I started freaking out in my head. I grabbed my stuff and got in my car and drove home. I didn't say a word to anyone. I started pleading with my baby for him to be ok.

He kicked during the car ride home! I was so happy. Not alot, but enough to calm me down a bit and bring me back to reality. By this time I was stuck in traffic on 20th street. I called Rob to let him know what was going on and after what felt like a really long car ride I was finally home. I ran past Rob and went right to the bathroom. There was no more blood. Nothing.

I decided this qualified as an emergency though. don't think that kind of bleed in the 2nd trimester can be easily brushed off. My doctors office closed at 4:00 so I just missed them but I could page the on call doctor in my practice. So that is exactly what I did. While waiting for her to call back I checked for the heartbeat with the doppler and found it right away.

The doctor called me back. She was very calm and nice. She asked questions like what color was the blood. Bright red. Did I have any cramping. I did not. Braxton Hicks. No. Any back-aches. No. She was concerned when I told her the amount of blood and that I have not had sex recently. We also talked about my recent constipation and how hemorrhoids can be internal and bleed and did I maybe get confused as to where the blood came from. I was positive that it came from the front but didn't not think to do a thorough inspection on that.

I also reminder her I have RH Negative blood and I am not sure if I need a Rhogam shot early now due to the bleeding. She said I needed the shot and she would get it for me at the hospital.

The doctor was at the hospital when she called. She had just finished a C-Section and she asked me to meet her at Labor and Delivery for a cervical check and sonogram. I live 10 minutes from the hospital and Rob and I canceled our Friday night plans and got a cab to NYU.

Sidenote: I want to mention this is not the same hospital I went to where I was misdiagnosed with a miscarriage at 9 weeks. That was an ER at Beth Israel. I was now avoiding the ER entirely and meeting my doctor on the labor and delivery floor of the hospital she works out of. I felt much better about this as the thought of an ER now causes me severe anxiety.

It was 6:00 and we were at the hospital filling out paperwork and waiting for the doctor and it had now been over 2 hours since the bleeding. I had not had a single drop more. I had not had a single cramp. Little one was moving around in there. I was feeling hopeful.

They took me to the triage room right away. Rob was with me the whole time. The nurse took my blood pressure and that was fine. I was put on the heartbeat/contraction monitor as well. I got to hear baby boys heart beat consistently for a long time. Heaven! No contractions thankfully.

The doctor came pretty quickly for the cervical check. She saw no more blood. My cervix is closed and long and everything as it should be there. She did a vaginal ultrasound to look for placenta placement. She said it was where it is supposed to be. She then did an abdominal ultrasound to check on the baby and he is doing fine. He even kicked a few times for us.

We were so relieved!

In the end, I am fine and baby boy is fine and no one knows why I had that bleed. I wish I could have had an answer as to why, but at least I have some reassurance that the pregnancy, tho scary at times, is moving along well. I have my regular doctor on Monday and will double check on things then. I forgot to ask the doctor how abnormal a 2nd trimester bleed of this kind with no reason is. I'll ask on Monday.

She did check for internal hemorrhoids and I did have a small one, but she doesn't think that was the cause. She did say we did the right thing by paging her and coming to get checked out right away. If it happens again I am to do the same thing.

After the doctor left they took my blood and urine. I had to wait 3 and 1/2 hours after that for the results and for them to determine how much Rhogam I needed in that shot. The lab was backed up for some reason. I didn't mind though. Rob and I made up some games and took a walk to the hospital cafeteria. It was just boring. Boring is good. No, boring is great!

I am on pelvic rest until I see my doctor on Monday. Not a big deal at all.

10 days

That is how long that stupid cold lasted for. 10 effin days. It was more then a bit frustrating. I also gave it to Rob so as I started feeling better he was going down hill. He still has it and I just have a few sniffles left. I think they may be pregnancy sniffles that will stick through the winter though.

I am so thankful to feel decent again. That was such a miserable week.

Nothing major going on. My sister is helping me plan a small baby shower at the end of January. Another friend is going to go to Babies R Us with me and help me out. Rob and I tried to register over the weekend but we got overwhelmed and did a crappy job. (we also felt crappy and just were not in the mood). I am also planning on getting a 3D/4D ultrasound when I am about 30 weeks. Early January.

Belly pics

I figured it was time for a belly pic update.

This 1st one is 14 weeks. I remember thinking I was HUGE that day, (and everyday since).

This one was taken last night. I am 22 weeks 3 days here:

I cannot believe I still have more growing to do!

I have today off for Veterans day and I think Rob and I are going to Buy Buy Baby to get the registry started. I'm not sure though. He caught my cold and is still sleeping so we'll see how he feels when he wakes up.

I LOVE having a Thursday off. It really does feel like found time.

Sick Again

I can't believe I am sick..again. This one is worse :( Sore throat, congested, sinus headaches, achy, tired, and just feel like shit. It started on Friday and is still going on. Work was brutal yesterday. I know I caught it from work. 2 other people ( in offices right next to me) also have it.

Movement

I have been feeling little movements for over a week now. However, they were small and inconsistent. I would feel it, get all excited, then start doubting what I felt as nothing more would happen. Eventually, I would convince myself it was nothing. Also it was only ever happening between 7pm and 11pm at night. I thought I may have been hoping too hard for it and that was the time of night I was relaxed, not working, and had time to focus on it.

Yesterday was a whole different story! Baby gave me a nice kick at 9:00 am. The continued to squirm around for 2 hours. I loved every single second. He did it again around lunch and again right before dinner. All Day! I was worried he was going to be active all night too. He wasn't. I hope it happens again today :)

Did you know boys get jealous of pregnancy? I had no idea. I thought they were all relieved that they didn't have to go through it and still got their baby. I was telling Rob about all the movement I had going on and he asked when he would get to feel it. I really don't know. I think when the baby gets a bit bigger and stronger. He said he was jealous that I get to feel him and talk to him whenever I want. I bet he won't be so jealous during the labor. OR when I am struggling for months to lose the baby weight and he still looks the same.

Thankful for

I realize that with the exception of my gender u/s post I may have been a bit on the negative side lately. So I felt the need to put a "Thankful for" post up today. I really do have so much to be thankful for and really should be focusing on that.

First the obvious. I am so incredibly thankful for this baby growing in me. I am thankful that we were able to conceive naturally at the age of 34. I am so thankful that he seems to be healthy and all is going well with this pregnancy.

I love that Rob is just as excited as I am for this baby. He wanted it as much as me and will be an amazing father. He has been to all my doctors appt's with me and we are shopping for baby and registering together. I realize not all husbands are this involved and I appreciate how luck I am.

Also Rob feels very guilty about his unemployment. As a way to alleviate his guilt he does everything around the apartment. He cooks dinner almost every night, cleans up, does laundry ( ok this is new, he did laundry twice ), does all the errands, and has done some major projects. The biggest project was cleaning out and painting the soon to be nursery. I have been seriously spoiled this pregnancy and will actually miss this whole being catered to thing when he does go back to work.

I am thankful for my job. I do not make a ton of money but I make enough and have great health insurance and some decent perks. The job can be boring and mind-numbing at times, but it is not hard physical labor and I can sit at a desk/computer. I also have made some very good friends through work and appreciate them as well.

I am thankful for where I live in the city. I live in a very child-friendly environment with alot of parks nearby (one right outside my door). We have a guest bedroom that will become a nursery and that is rare in NYC. I have friends that lived in one bedroom apartments until there baby was 4 or 5. My area is nice and we are rent stabilized. I still really want to get out of the city and buy a house but if I do have to stay, this is the best possible place in NYC to live.

Family. All family's have issues and mine is no different. I don't think we will have alot of family support once the baby gets here but we will have my sister living only 20 blocks away. My father also has an apartment and works in the city, so knowing he is close by helps. Robs mom plans on coming to stay with us for a week when the baby is born. I am happy about that.

Friends. We have alot of friends and a pretty active social life. Many of our friends have children and we are learning all we can from them. Most seem happy to help, so I am grateful for that.

There is more, much, much more, but these are the main things I am concentrating on right now. We are lucky. I am lucky. Everything is not perfect and it never will be, but I realize what I have and I am extremely thankful for it.

~~~~~~~~~

Baby Boy is still doing great. Moving around a bit now. Nothing Rob can feel yet though. Not very consistent. Hopefully he will pick up the pace soon. We are working on names but haven't settled on anything yet.

Top 3 picks so far are:

Ryan Thomas

Thomas Ryan

Kevin ( not sure of a middle name Yet)